Kalinka Cossack (カリンカ・コサック,Karinka Kosakku?, Russian: Калинка Казак) is a character from the original Mega Man series. She is the nine-year-old[1] daughter of Dr. Cossack that dreams to become a princess. She is skilled at ballet dancing and playing the piano.[1]

Contents

Video game appearances

In Mega Man 4, Dr. Wily kidnapped Kalinka to force Dr. Cossack to fight Mega Man, but Mega Man and Dr. Cossack stopped their fight when Proto Man saved Kalinka and reunited her with her father.

In the version of Mega Man 4 that was featured in Mega Man: Anniversary Collection and Rockman Complete Works, Kalinka plays the role of Mega Man's navigator if Navi Mode is enabled in the options menu. Even after being rescued, she will still continue to support Mega Man throughout the rest of the game as an act of gratitude.

Kalinka and her father first appear as player-controllable characters in Wily & Right's RockBoard: That's Paradise. In this game, she hopes to build a lot of castles in the world and realize her dream of becoming a princess.

She also appears with Roll carrying a banner in the end of matches of Tournament Mode in Mega Man's Soccer.

Other media

Kalinka first appears during the Spiritus Ex Machina arc, where Roll accidentally bumped into her. This nearly caused a confrontation between Roll, her brother Rock, and Pharaoh Man, one of Dr. Cossack's Robot Masters before Cossack quelled it. She was later introduced to Dr. Light by her father, both of whom were old college friends. Kalinka also ended up explaining to Rock that the point of the A.R.T.S. Convention is for robotics experts to meet each other and that Light and her father studied with each other and Dr. Noele Lalinde when they were younger. Kalinka also expressed confusion when Lalinde addressed her as one of Cossack's "creations," as she's not a robot, causing her father to sheepishly state that he'll explain it to her when she's older. While the doctors go to the lecture hall, Kalinka and Roll stay behind to see more of the convention.

Kalinka in school

Kalinka held captive

When the Emerald Spears terrorist group invaded the convention and held everyone hostage, Kalinka called her father while hiding with Roll, fearing for his safety, with Cossack telling her to stay in hiding and that he'll be fine. She later managed to escape with Roll (the latter faking being a human), and then reported to Agent Roslyn Krantz about the terrorist occupation of the convention just as one of the bombs set by the terrorists ended up set off. Afterwards, Kalinka spent some time with Roll and Tempo (Dr. Lalinde's Robot Master) at the beach before she returned to Russia, and later aided in saving several people when a ship ran aground. (Mega Man #19) In a future event when Mega Man was caught in time travel, Dr. Cossack laments that, thanks to Mega Man, Kalinka is most likely dead. She later celebrated New Years with her father in Mega Man #21. When Ra Moon commenced his EMP wave, she ended up terrified by the event. According to Dr. Cossack in the aftermath of Ra Moon's defeat, Kalinka suffered from nightmares relating to the episode, even when it was all over. This is further alluded to when Dr. Cossack glares at Dr. Wily during the first part of Dawn of X when he asks how Kalinka is doing. Dr. Cossack retorts that she's worrying less about monsters-and mad scientists. In addition, when Wily asked Dr. Cossack about how his daughter was doing, Cossack's mug's handle broke off, foreshadowing Wily's later abduction of her and forcing Cossack himself into villainy to guarantee her safety.

Eventually, while at school, she was lured away by a mysterious boy in a trenchcoat as well as an odd bird-like robot, and while talking to him about how her father was developing a similar robot, the man proceeded to place a teleportation harness on her and brought her to the X Corporation. Wily, who was believed to be dead, then congratulated the man, Break Man, and then proceeded to make a phone call to her father telling him that he has abducted his daughter and he has to do everything he says if he wants to see her again. Kalinka then breaks down in fear and begs for a knight to rescue her as she's a princess, with Break Man noticing.

Kalinka is Dr. Cossack's only daughter. Her special talents include ballet dancing and playing the piano, but she dreams of one day becoming a princess in a big castle. (It is possible that the exterior of Dr. Cossack's laboratory is shaped like a castle because Dr. Cossack wanted to make Kalinka's dream come true in a small way.) When Kalinka was nine years old, she was kidnapped by Dr. Wily, and ensuring her safety was the reason Dr. Cossack went into battle against Mega Man.

Kalinka used to feel conflicted about robots in general, as she sometimes felt that her father cared more for his mechanical creations that he did for her, which resulted in a twingle of jealousy. However, after the Skull Man incident and due to her growing friendship with Roll, her perspective on robots started changing. Now, Kalinka considers Roll one of her nearest and dearest friends. Since Roll is a robot, she will never experience the natural effects of aging, but as a human, Kalinka continues to grow up as the series progresses.

In Grim Reaper of Resurrection, Kalinka is 12 years old.[2] When Skull Man destroyed Dr. Cossack's laboratory, Dive Man protected her from the debris, and they are found by Mega Man and Roll. The four, alongside Bright Man and Toad Man, try to find Skull Man to rescue the kidnaped Dr. Cossack and three of his robots, but when they find him, he captures Roll and Kalinka. Skull Man leaves the two in a cave, and Kalinka is unable to leave due to the snow storm outside. The cold is to much for her, and she loses consciousness, but Roll overheats herself to keep her warm. When Kalnka awakens, she notices that Roll is steaming and tells her to stop, and it could damage her circuits. When Skull Man is defeated, he reveals where he hid the girls and they are rescued.

In The Greatest Enemy in History, a 14 years old Kalinka assist Dr. Cossack to prove Mega Man's innocence. Kalinka also appears in Mega Man Gigamix, where she assists Roll in the Battle & Chase competition and gives support in the battle against the Stardroids.

Trivia

She may be named after the popular Russian song "Kalinka", which is appropriate since many Classic characters' names are references to musical terms and it also fits her Russian heritage.

Kalinka's hat is known as an ushanka (Russian for "ear hat"). These hats were once worn by cossack soldiers before the Soviet Union was formed, eventually becoming a popular winter hat outside of Russia.

Kalinka, alongside Roll, Splash Woman and Plum are the only female main characters in the classic series video games.

When Yūji Ishihara heard that Dr. Cossack was going to have a counterpart in the Mega Man Battle Network series, he assumed that Kalinka would also appear and did some sketches of her while working on Dr. Cossak.[3] However, she isn't even mentioned in the series, and it's unknown if Dr. Cossack's counterpart has a daughter.